Oldest Wine Cellar Found in Ancient Site in Israel

These 3,700-year-old jars were discovered in an ancient palatial wine cellar unearthed by researchers at Tel Kabri in July 2013. The team worked in day and night shifts to excavate a total of 40 intact vessels during its six-week dig. Photographer: Eric H. Cline, George Washington University

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- A 3,700-year-old wine cellar still
holding vestiges of the drink has been unearthed in the Near
East, potentially offering modern man a true taste of the past.

The excavation in the ancient city of Tel Kabri, in Israel
uncovered 40 jars in sizes that could have filled about 3,000
modern wine bottles. The residue suggested they once contained
both white and red wine, made with additives that included
juniper berries, cinnamon bark, mint and myrtle.

The group had been digging since 2005 at the site, believed
to be an ancient Canaanite palace and decorated with Aegean-style frescoes, the only such art to be found in Israel so far,
according to a presentation today in Baltimore at the annual
meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

“We’re thinking it’s a palatial wine cellar,” said Eric
Cline, one of the archaeologists and the chairman of the
Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and
Civilizations at George Washington University. Two-thousand
liters of wine isn’t enough for the general population. “It’s
just enough for the ruler and his household.”

Researchers located the cellar near the ruins of what was
likely a banquet hall. The hall and cellar were destroyed in
what may have been an earthquake.

Andrew Koh, an assistant professor of classical studies at
Brandeis University, extracted the residue at the site and
brought the samples to analyze at a lab at the Waltham,
Massachusetts-based university. The consistency of the leftovers
suggested the wine mix was made using a closely followed recipe.

Trade Route

The additives were probably there to preserve the wine, and
some came from non-local plants, suggesting thriving trade
routes.

It was “a very luxurious drink reserved for special
occasions,” said Assaf Yasur-Landau, the chairman of the
department of maritime civilizations at the University of Haifa,
and co-director of the excavation.

The recipe was similar to medicinal wines used in ancient
Egypt, the researchers said. “We can imagine it was like if
you take a resinated wine and pour cough syrup in,” Yasur-Landau said.

Researchers plan to continue analyzing the residue, in
hopes of discovering enough information to recreate the flavor.

The archaeologists had to work quickly to get the jugs out
before winter, when the weather likely would destroy them.
Working in two teams, they finished just before the scheduled
end of the dig.

There may be more wine containers yet to be found. A few
days before the dig ended, the team discovered two doors leading
out of the wine cellar, which may point toward additional
storage rooms. A dig is scheduled for 2015 to explore further.